Saturday, 15 November 2008

Wandering around Changi Airport

Sorry for the lack of updates the past couple of days as I was on a work trip to Bali and had no internet access. Didn't get to see much of Bali except the hotel and the streets that we drove through to and from the hotel but the view of the ocean next to the Denpasar airport runway was pretty spectacular!

It's been awhile since I visited Changi Airport's Terminal 2 and I was surprised to find that it had a Victoria's Secret beauty counter. The range is quite expensive though with some of the body lotions costing around S$40 but they had some lipglosses for around S$12. Other brands that are now available at T2 are Jurlique, Laneige (skincare only), L'Occitane and Shu Uemura (including brushes and some travel-exclusive sets).

ck Calvin Klein beauty is also available exclusively at Changi Airport T2. I had been looking forward to checking it out as I was a devoted fan of its previous makeup line which was a big staple of my makeup bag when I first started working in 2000. Sadly, that line which had some of the most gorgeous lipstick shades that I've ever found, not to mention an excellent liquid foundation, bit the dust after the couple of years. The newest incarnation is a collaboration with Markwins, which did not produce the previous line (and it shows).

Overall, the new ck line was a big disappointment. First off, the white and clear plastic packaging looked cheap and felt heavy. The previous line's sleek metal and glass packaging was much more elegant in comparison. Secondly, the product packaging did not last well. I was trying to open the cap of the liquid concealer (which comes in a YSL Touche Eclat-like pen applicator) and the metal body fell right off leaving the internal tube still stuck to the cap! I gave up and dumped it back on the shelf.

Third, the foundations, which were a strong point of CK's previous line, were unimpressive with textures that did not appear to spread well or look natural. Plus there was a very limited number of shade options, usually only 5 or 6 per foundation. The lipgloss shade selection also looked like what one would get from a cheaper brand like Maybelline or L'Oreal. The squeeze tube applicators of some of the lipglosses also just screamed cheap. The line was quite affordably priced with nothing above S$50 but I just couldn't bring myself to shell out any money for it, despite my deep nostalgia for the previous CK line.

Changi Airport is often the first to get new perfume launches. I saw several perfumes that have not yet launched in the department stores here such as Sarah Jessica Parker's Covet Bloom (was really looking forward to this as the bottle is really cute and the description sounding intriguing with the inclusion of pikake flower, but sadly it was a strange floral concoction that I just could not love), Kylie Minogue's Sexy Darling, Kate Moss Velvet Hour, Juicy Couture's eponymous fragrance and Dirty English, Mariah Carey's Luscious Pink. The Juicy Couture fragrance was cute but it reminded me very much of Ralph Lauren's Romance.

I ended up getting Velvet Hour, which was surprisingly pleasant to me even though I'm usually not a fan of sandalwood. I've been looking forward to trying this as I love Kate Moss' first fragrance, the rose-themed Kate. I could hardly detect the sandalwood in Velvet Hour, which was a huge plus for me. The other notes in it are blue pepper, freesia, cashmere incense, patchouli, nutmeg, amber, ebony and wood. There was a 10% discount going on and a metal cuff bracelet GWP. After the discount, it cost about S$70 for the 100ml size.

I didn't see the metal cuff bracelet before I bought the fragrance and I must say I was disappointed when I opened up the box and saw that huge unappealing black stone. I doubt I'd wear this at all.

3 comments:

Thanks for the update Haru!! We'll be at Changi ourselves on our way to Jakarta, visiting the parental units for Christmas. Really looking forward to checking out the VS and (of course!) shu uemura! Wheee!!

I used to like the CK Makeup range, it looked very elegant, minimalist. But as you wrote on your post, they are now under the Markwins brand...does it mean the quality of this line has fallen?? As far as i know (and as far as i've tried their products) Markwins is not very good...